Caracas advanced(1)

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Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam
Level 3
Advanced
1
Key words
Fill the gaps using these key words from the text:
clogged
irritability
disruption
boom
potholed
inaugurate
detour
odyssey
gridlock
berate
1. If you ____________ something, you introduce or start something new or important.
2. ____________ is a situation in which there are so many cars on the roads that trafic cannot move.
3. If you ____________ someone, you criticise them in an angry way.
4. ____________ is a problem or situation that interrupts something and prevents it from continuing or from
working properly.
5. An ____________ is a long journey during which many things happen.
6. A ____________ is a way of going from one place to another that is not the shortest or the usual way.
7. ____________ is a state where people easily become annoyed or impatient.
8. If a street or road is ____________, there are a lot of holes in it and it is dificult to drive along it.
9. If streets are ____________ with trafic, they are completely blocked.
10. A ____________ is a sudden major increase in trade or proits in a particular country or region.
2
What do you think?
The article gives advice on what to do if you are stuck in a trafic-jam. Which three of these six pieces of
advice do you think will be given?
1. read a newspaper
2. close your eyes
3. take deep breaths
4. do a crossword puzzle
5. eat a snack
6. punch someone
Now look in the text and check your answers.
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
NEWS LESSONS / Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam / Advanced
Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam
Level 3
Advanced
Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam
by Rory Carroll in Caracas
Eat a snack, read a book, do a crossword, listen
to music and try not to punch or shoot anyone.
That is the advice psychiatrists are giving to
commuters in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas,
in the wake of trafic jams that are among the
world’s worst.
baked beneath a tropical sun, can appear to
be the site of a battle against geography and
climate.
The government, lush with oil revenues, has
inaugurated bridges and metro lines in the
run-up to next month’s presidential election,
but many are uninished, including a bridge
connecting Caracas to the airport, which is
forcing detours through hillside barrios that can
turn the 16-mile trip into a ive-hour odyssey.
An explosion in car ownership has clogged
motorways and side-streets from early morning
until late at night, paralysing entire districts and
driving motorists to distraction. Doctors say the
stress is inlicting physical and mental damage
on drivers and leading to increased incidents of
road rage, including shoot-outs.
Everyone agrees that gridlock is getting worse
every month. Taxi drivers say their income has
been slashed because they are down from
an average of ive to three fares a day. ‘lt’s
impossible. If someone asks to go into especially
heavy trafic I say no, it’ll take up half my day,’
said Fredy Afanador, a veteran cabbie.
Those who try to beat the trafic by leaving home
at 5 am have been warned that they are likely
to suffer sleep deprivation, which will diminish
productivity, increase irritability and harm sex
lives.
President Hugo Chávez has berated previous
infrastructure ministers but praised the
incumbent for doing a good job. And he is
also looking further aield for help. In return for
discounted diesel for London buses, the city’s
mayor, Ken Livingstone, is to share insights on
congestion charging and other policies in an
attempt to end the trafic nightmare.
A sense of anxiety, anguish and tension is
spreading, Robert Lespinasse, the former head
of the Venezuelan Society of Psychiatry, told the
daily,
Ultimas Noticias
. A psychologist, Hernan
D’Oliveira, said that the disruption in mental
processes was making people less open to
criticism. Armed motorcycle gangs who ambush
stationary motorists in broad daylight do not
help.
In the absence of an urban planning miracle,
people have been advised that when trafic
grinds to a halt they should have a drink or
something to eat and occupy their minds with
music, a book, newspaper or crossword.
© Guardian News & Media 2006
An oil-fuelled economic boom has boosted
vehicle ownership in Venezuela, with sales
in the last year alone doubling to 300,000. In
the absence of new roads, the swollen trafic
streams into a creaking, potholed infrastructure
which has been neglected for years.
Caracas, squeezed into a long narrow alley
between skyscrapers and shantytowns and
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
NEWS LESSONS / Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam / Advanced
Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam
Level 3
Advanced
3
Comprehension check
Choose the best answer.
1. Car ownership in Venezuela has increased rapidly as a result of…
a. a government road-building programme.
b. a boom fuelled by oil sales.
c. next month’s presidential election.
2. Leaving home at 5 am is likely to…
a. allow drivers to beat the trafic jams.
b. cause various health and personal problems.
c. stop people sleeping.
3. The problem is made worse by…
a. stress.
b. a sense of anxiety and tension.
c. a neglected infrastructure.
4. Psychiatrists are advising people to…
a. leave home earlier.
b. try and relax.
c. punch or shoot other drivers.
4
Vocabulary Expressions
Match these expressions from the text with their meanings.
1. in the wake of
2. to drive to distraction
3. road rage
4. to grind to a halt
5. a creaking infrastructure
6. lush with money
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
NEWS LESSONS / Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam / Advanced
Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam
Level 3
Advanced
7. in broad daylight
8. congestion charging
a. violent behaviour by a driver towards another driver
b. a system under which drivers pay to enter a particular part of a city
c. with more money than you usually have
d. to annoy someone so much that they become angry
e. happening after an event or as a result of it
f. in the middle of the day when people can be easily seen
g. a transport system that is close to collapse
h. to move more and more slowly until everything stops
5
Vocabulary Collocations
What verbs go with these nouns? Check your answers in the text.
1. ____________ a crossword
2. ____________ damage
3. ____________ productivity
4. ____________ one’s mind
5. ____________ irritability
6. ____________ entire districts
7. ____________ sleep deprivation
8. ____________ advice
6
Vocabulary Find the word
Find the word that means:
1. ights using guns (para. 2)
2. a lack of something you need or want (para. 3)
3. a feeling of great physical or emotional pain (para. 4)
4. the period of time just before an important event (para. 8)
5. poor districts of a city in a Spanish-speaking country (para. 8)
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
NEWS LESSONS / Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam / Advanced
Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam
Level 3
Advanced
6. reduced drastically (para. 9)
7. taxi-driver (para. 9)
8. the person holding a particular job or ofice at the present time (para. 10)
7
Discussion
What do you think are the best ways to reduce congestion and prevent trafic-jams in major cities?
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
NEWS LESSONS / Car boom leaves Caracas in one big jam / Advanced
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